Love of my Pathetic Life
by x-menobsessed26
Summary: Dimitri's life before and after the Vampire Academy series (AU) , not including 'Bloodlines'. Some flashbacks of during. Dimitri x OC
1. Chapter 1

**I can ask all I want, but I have a feeling I'm still going to get a lot of flames on this story. I _do_ have to warn that this story takes things in a completely different direction than most of the books did. I don't know what else to say at this point, but if you have any questions, feel free to send me a message.**

**Obviously, this conversation is supposed to be taking place in Russian, but I don't feel like spending all night on internet translators. Unfortunately, I'm not a fluent Russian speaker.**

**I've think there's an eight year difference between Viktoria and Dimitri, so I tried to keep that. Before I get messages about it, I took Dimitri's age (24) and how Rose was freaking out about the new age law thing for 16 year olds and how it reminded her of Viktoria. That's eight years.**

Dimitri was on the floor of the small house, watching his sister and her best friend play with dolls. He desperately wanted attention, but knew if he sought it out, he wouldn't gain it. Sighing, eight year old Dimitri Belikov walked out the front door, and he thought he was going to be laying on the porch, playing with blades of grass.

He was wrong.

He walked out the door and heard a squeal to his right. It was unfamiliar, and definitely had his attention. Slowly and soundlessly, Dimitri crept up on the bush to which the squeal had originated. Then he pulled back the branches and grabbed the small form her saw try to get away.

It was a girl, about his age he would guess, and she was crying. He couldn't help but gape at her. She was almost a walking skeleton. Dimitri had to avert his eyes for fear of throwing up from the sight of nearly all of this girl's bones being prominent. She was also extremely dirty and injured.

When she looked up at him, she started sobbing even harder. Dimitri dropped her arm and backed away, not knowing what to do.

"What's wrong, Dimka? Who's crying?" his mother, Olena, asked with his grandmother, Yeva, following behind.

When they saw the little girl, Olena sprang into action, grabbing her (which made her cry even harder) and rushed her inside. Dimitri and Yeva were still near the door. Yeva put a hand on her grandson's shoulder, jolting him out of the daze that had captured him.

"You had a vision, didn't you?"

Yeva nodded, "I saw her and you. I also saw more into the future."

She laughed at her grandson's eager eyes, "I can't tell you anything. You know this."

He pouted, but then his eyes brightened and he ran inside to tell his sisters that they had a visitor.

* * *

><p>Dinner that night was an affair that no one in the Belikov family would soon forget. Yeva, Dimitri, Katarina, Sonya, and baby Viktoria were all seated around the table. Yeva had declared dinner in session, but so far, only she and little Viktoria were the only ones eating. Dimitri was playing with his food while the other girls just stared at the hall, waiting for their mother to emerge with a guest.<p>

Eventually, she did. Olena came down the hall holding the hand of someone who was hiding herself behind the older woman's legs. Olena pulled a chair from another room into the dining room and set the little girl upon it.

She had super long black hair, now made glossy and brushed though not yet cut, with eyes as dark. She looked scared to death, almost like at any moment they would spring up to attack her where she sat.

Olena cleared her throat, making more than one person jump, "This is Savina. From what she's told me, she's always been a street orphan. She's never known more than her given name and street trash cans. Now I need you all to listen carefully.

"We. Are. Going. To. Lie. I know I told all of you that lying is never okay, but this time it's essential," Olena paused to look into the eyes of each of her beautiful children. "If anyone asks, Savina is your cousin. I know she really isn't, but we're going to pretend that she is. She will be known as Savina Belikova from here on out."

"Will she be a guardian?" Katarina asked.

"We will send her to school with you and Dimitri, but it's her choice whether or not she wants to be," Olena said.

Dinner progressed in silence, with Dimitri practically staring down Savina. Savina could feel his stare, and it made her extremely uncomfortable. She wouldn't say anything, though. Uncomfortable was a feeling she had gotten used to a long time ago.

Dimitri looked at his mom suddenly, with a fearful look in his brown eyes, "Momma, what about Dad? What will he say?"

For a moment, Olena looked afraid, but then her resolve came back, "We'll tell him the same story. How my sister died and she left her child to me. You don't need to worry about your father, Dimka."

Only Dimitri wasn't so sure.

**This is my first Vampire Academy attempt. How was it thus far? Hit the button below, please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Major thank you to anyone who reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story. I really appreciate it and it must mean that it doesn't _completely_ suck. Thanks!**

[four years later]

Dimitri sat on the front porch of the house he had always known as home, feeling, not for the first time, that it wasn't. The shouts of his father coming from the inside and the weeps that all the children pretended not to hear emanating from the mouth of their mother haunted his dreams, reminding him that home would always have that man for an infection.

Savina sat next to him, looking much different than she had when they had first met. In fact, they both did. They were both taller and looking more like a man and a woman should. Certain traits were still the same from the first day they had met. Her hair was still just as long in proportion to her body, with it falling straight to her lower back. She refused to cut it like many of the other guardian women did, a trait he found both indearing and incrediably annoying. Her hair was just as black as her eyes that had also not changed, though they now looked at him with kindness and understanding rather than fear and distrust.

"Are you okay?"

Dimitri shook his head, "Who does he think he is, coming around here like this? Doing this to us?"

"God. He likes to play God. If you can think about the situation rather than just the infuriating part of it, he's kind of right. The mind games he's been playing are kind of astounding," she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

He put his arm around the girl who was supposed to be his cousin, "Like what?"

"How he can just walk in the room and we all instantely know what to do and how to act. We don't know what he's going to do next and that's a reaction he revels in. He lives for knowing that no one's going to do anything to stop him."

Dimitri's fists clenched, a move that didn't go unnoticed from Savina, "I want to. I want to show him that he doesn't control us."

"But for right now, he does," she said, sitting up. Savina cupped his cheek and made him look at her. "You're not strong enough to defeat him yet. You'll know when the time is right. I promise. Right now is not it though. That's something everyone needs to remember."

"I just wish...I wish he'd leave for good. Never come back. I don't know how many more of these visits Mom can take," Dimitri said, looking away from Savina.

"Me too, Dimka. Me too."

The shouts died away after a while, followed by stomps of Dimitri's father coming down the stairs. He practically plowed through the front door, not noticing the two sets of eyes following him as they sat on the porch. Karolina, who was playing with Sonya in a patch of flowers in the yard, made sure Sonya was looking at the ground and not their father as he passed them, obviously angered.

Dimitri felt a shiver pass through Savina, "Are you cold?"

She nodded, "A bit, but I'm a little afraid to...go inside."

He understood what he meant. Not only was it an unspoken rule not to go in the house because Olena would need to clean herself back up and Yeva would need to straighten the house back to the way it was, but there was always the chance of him coming back and finishing off his anger on whoever was inside at that moment, whether it be Olena or one of the children. He generally left Yeva alone.

Dimitri layed back on the porch and pulled Savina down to his chest. The spring air still had a chill to it, but Savina felt that chill fade away as Dimitri warmed her with his body. When Savina had been just getting used to the family, she felt close to all of them in some way.

Karolina was the oldest and also the most distant from Savina. Though it was clear that Karolina still loved and treated her as family, there was always a wariness when it came to how Karolina treated her. Savina suspected that this stemmed from the simple fact that no one knew who she really was. Savina never held that wariness against her and never would.

Savina found herself getting closer and closer to Sonya. Sonya was always a moody person and lived in the shadow of her older sister and brother, making her more than a little tempermental and frustrated. Savina seemed to be the only one who could really help Sonya in these situations, though Dimitri was always willing to give it a try as well.

Viktoria was always a little more difficult to get close to, being as she was so much younger than the rest, but she seems to treat her in a way between Karolina and Sonya with a touch uniquely Viktoria.

Dimitri was an entirely different matter. The two of them were alike in a way neither could describe or wanted to. They loved competing with each other and had the same hobbies like reading, though Savina prefered modern crime mystery and romance to Dimitri's westerns. Dimitri was always the big brother when it came to protecting Savina from the taunts of the other students at school.

Little did she know that she was helping him by keeping him in control. If something happened to her, there would be nothing to hold him back from the violent side of him. He hoped and prayed for all he was worth that never happened.

Olena came out the front door and motioned for the children to come inside, "Don't worry. He's not coming back. Not until after you all are gone, that is."

They were leaving to go back to school in three days. It was a breath of relief for everyone that he wouldn't be coming back. Olena sported a wicked black eye and Dimitri knew from experience that even more black and blue marks would show up on his mother's body throughout the next couple of days.

Quiet dinners were a common occurance after a visit from their father. This one had been no exception. Awkward fidgets and sidelong glances accompanied the warm meal as they prepared to enjoy their last few days together until the next vacation.

**Review please!**

**If you have a Facebook account, I made one dedicated to my fanfictions. My name is X-menobsessed fanfic. Unfortunately it wouldn't let me include the 26.**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter involves rape, so if that's not your cup of tea, don't read it. This is my warning.**

[One year later]

Dimitri was walking in from town, whistling to himself. His mother had sent him off to get some groceries, and despite her obviously being flustered about something, Dimitri had followed her orders anyway. Savina had wanted to come, but his mother had been quick to protest, saying Savina had to go with her sisters. Now he was approaching his house with arms full of groceries.

The sounds he heard as he walked closer chilled him to the bone. They were shouts from his father, making his blood boil, but what stopped that boiling and froze it in his veins were the cries. He heard shouts from his mother, grandmother, and sisters, but it was coming from a small shack outside. Dimitri dropped the groceries without a second thought and pulled the crowbar off of the doors that was keeping them locked in.

Immediately his mother came rushing outside, tears staining her face and she grabbed onto Dimitri. He assessed the situation, "Mother, where is Savina?"

She screamed lightly and gripped him tighter. That's when he knew who the cries inside the house belonged to.

They were Savina's.

He shoved his mother off of him and charged up to the house, ignoring the protests of his family behind him. Dimitri slammed through the front door and almost immediately the screams and cries of Savina got louder. The shouts from his father were nearly deafening.

Dimitri charged up the flight of stairs taking them two at a time and ran down the hall with the speed of the great guardian he was sure to become. He used his shoulder to crash through the door to the master bedroom. If Dimitri hadn't seen red before all of this, the scene before him would have certainly done the trick.

At first, he just saw his father, who's lower half was no longer covered, but as he looked past him, he saw Savina laying on the bed with tears covering her face and blood covering her legs. His father was raping Savina.

With a roar, thirteen year old Dimitri stood and ripped his father off of his best friend. When his father attempted to stop him, Dimitri used his guardian trained fists on his face. Dimitri had taken enough of his father's crap other the years, and was sick of seeing this happen. He adored the women in his family, but he had also been trained to take orders. When his mom told him to stay out of it, he did.

She never said anything about not protecting Savina.

Dimitri felt himself being pulled up and fought as hard as he could to get back, but once this unknown person grabbed him, others jumped into action as well. After a while, he was able to calm down enough to look past the people standing in front of him, and at the bed, where Savina was still laying, though wrapped up in a blanket.

"Dimka?"

He turned his face toward his mother, who was staring at him with wide eyes, "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to-"

"Do not apologize! Your father will never come back because of what you have done, and I thank you for that. Are you calm now?" Olena asked, walking toward her son.

He nodded in response and the man standing behind Dimitri let go. Mark walked into Dimitri's line of sight and Olena thanked him for his help while telling everyone else to clear out of the room. She closed the door behind her, leaving Dimitri and Savina alone.

"Are you okay?"

Savina nodded, tears still flowing, "You saved me. Why?"

"You needed saving," Dimitri said, walking toward her and sitting near her on the bed. "How bad did he hurt you?"

"Yeva looked at me when everyone else was trying to get you to calm down. She says the bruises should be gone in two weeks and I will be feeling intense pain...between my legs for...quite a while. They're not sending me back to school until they deem me ready to go back. Maybe not ever. Mark offered to train me here if I'm too scared to go back," Savina explained.

"What happened?"

"He came back and wanted to hurt your mom again. I stood up to him and he forced the others into that shack and, well, I forgot all of my training. I...I practically let him rape me, Dimka!"

"No you didn't. I know you. You're strong. You'll get through this."

She whispered, looking down, "No I won't."

Dimitri moved the curtain of black hair back from her face, "How are you feeling? Not physically, but...?"

Savina sighed and moved into Dimitri's arms, "I don't think I'm ever going to let another man touch me ever again."

"I'm touching you."

"You're not a potential boyfriend, Dimitri. You're practically my brother."

And for a reason he couldn't explain, that admission left a cold hole in his stomach for the rest of the visit home.

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter was put up because of Meiko6989 and her lovely three reviews she gave me so suddenly. Also, would like to thank Darlene for her continued support, even though it's been a while since I last updated. I actually forgot about this story...I'm so ashamed!**

The years passed in a blur of training as both Dimitri and Savina (who had gone back to school after a month of recovery at home), and soon at the ages of eighteen and seventeen (Savina's seventeenth birthday only days away, leaving Dimitri temporarily older) they were competing for top of their class. As predicted, their relationship grew and grew until they were practically inseparable, causing many rumors that neither paid much attention to.

They were in the library, with Dimitri sitting on the couch and Savina laying on it, her head in Dimitri's lap. Dimitri held on of his signature westerns he always seemed to have one of and Savina held...well, she wasn't exactly sure what to classify _Animal Farm_ as. Strange seemed as good a classification as any. Unfortunately, their comfortable silence was broken by a classmate of theirs, Sacha, who thought that moment to be best to run over and state the obvious.

"Hey! It's snowing!"

Dimitri rolled his eyes, "Sacha, it's been snowing for three days."

"No, it's _really_ snowing. Practically a blizzard! Looks like a white-out tonight!"

Savina laughed, "What are you hoping for? A snow day? You know those don't happen when your school is just a building over."

Sacha grunted in frustration as he walked away, "Neither of you are any fun anymore. All you want to do is train and train and focus."

Dimitri laughed, "Do we look like we're training?"

His silence caused them both to laugh again. Savina looked into her friend's brown eyes, "Maybe we should get back to our dorms before we get snowed in?"

"Sounds good. I'm tired of this couch anyway," he stood and stretched as she put her book on a nearby table. They shrugged their coats on and walked out.

"So, did you talk to Karolina last night?" Savina asked.

"No, why?"

"You know that guardian she's been seeing for about a year? She's decided that, since she wants to be a homemaker anyway, she may as well begin having kids with him."

Dimitri nearly slipped on the ice he was walking on, "So soon? She's only twenty!"

Savina laughed, "You can't make a baby overnight, Dimka! It takes time. Besides, she's fantastic with children! I think if she wants to start having them, she should be able to."

He grunted his disagreement, making her giggle again. The crunching of the snow beneath their boots was the only sound for the majority of the walk. The distance from the library to the dorms was the length of the campus, so it was quite the walk. When they got about halfway, an ear-splitting scream pierced the cold air.

Both of them jumped into defensive positions, but were too afraid to run over and see what had happened. They didn't need to worry about finding out as two figures ran right at them. It wasn't until they were about 100 feet away that the obvious thought finally hit them, "STRIGOI!"

Savina turned and ran, pulling Dimitri with her. Neither had any sort of weapon on them, nor would they be able to find one in the middle of a snow covered sidewalk at night. It was still dark as the school day had nearly just ended. Savina's left boot slid on an uneven stretch of ice and she fell hard, causing her ankle to make a nasty _CRACK!_

It took Dimitri a moment to realize Savina was no longer by his side, and when he turned around, her scream chilled his blood. One of them had its fangs sunk deep into her neck while the other one helped to hold her down. Now that the endorphins were kicking into her, she didn't need to be held anymore. The one strigoi began to run after him.

For a moment, only a moment, the world froze, and as he looked at his best friend laying on the ground with a monster feasting on her neck, she mouthed one word at him, "Go."

With tears stinging his eyes from the betrayal he was giving her, he ran with all of his might, his unnatural height evening the odds of superhuman speed on his potential attacker. As he turned a corner and ran behind a building, he saw one of his teachers staking another monster. She pulled her stake out of the corpse, and turned to help him.

Dimitri flattened himself against the wall as the small fight took place. It didn't take her long to subdue him.

Turning to face him, she said, "Get inside here. This building has been cleared out. Use this stake only if a strigoi gets in, got it?"

Before running of to continue fighting, she put a charmed stake in his gloved hands and nodded toward the building behind him. It was the elementary school. She wanted him to protect the kids.

Years of training had him following orders and going inside to follow her request. No one attempted to get inside the building.

When the teachers came to bring the students all to a gathering inside of one of the many gyms, he looked around for Savina. They had an unnatural ability to find each other in a crowd. He didn't see her.

"Your name?"

Dimitri looked at the man who had asked it, a teacher named Rory, and responded with his name. The man checked it off of a list and said, "Next!"

He finally understood. By checking them in, they would know in no time who had been...he couldn't even think like that. He spotted Viktoria off to his left and ran to get her. She was hysterical and collapsed into his arms.

He knew she hadn't seen anything, as if she had she would have been far worse, but she was scared. He just patted her hair and rubbed her back. She looked up at him and asked, "Where's Savina?"

He never answered.

After a couple of hours, one of the instructors walked over to a small microphone, "Good...well, let's just say morning. I'm sure all of you know by now, but our school was in fact attacked by Strigoi last night. There were nearly 100 strigoi against us, and there were...casualties. Now, Ms. Parkinson will read the list of the confirmed dead."

Dimitri's heart jumped into his throat as she began reading. There were only six people, two instructors, and one was Sacha, must to his dismay. Fortunately, Savina's name wasn't called.

Another instructor, Mr. Xavier stepped forward, "There were also a few people the Strigoi...seem to have taken. They are an instructor, Ms. Fay, Roman Rasputin, and Savina Belikova."

Everything else that was said was lost on him. He vaguely registered Viktoria clinging onto his shirt and her tears soaking his skin, but all he could feel was cold. Savina was as good as dead to him. He could never have her now.

Dimitri cursed himself and his stupidity, for it taking her death for him to realize just how far he had fallen in love with her...and hadn't been able to tell her.

**The next chapter will probably skip to his life after the Vampire Academy series. Keep in mind that this story completely ignores the happenings of the Bloodlines series.**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is extremely angsty. If you're not into angsty, please stop your continuation of this journey. Thank you.**

He laid in his bed, Rose snuggled against his chest, but he couldn't have felt more hollow. Today was January 14th. The anniversary of her death. He always felt cold the few days before and few days after her death, let alone every time he thought of her in between, which was more than he would ever admit to.

Dimitri took a deep breath and looked down at his current girlfriend. Rose was an amazing woman, any man would be lucky to have her and he was no exception, but he certainly felt bad. As much as he loved her, and he did love her, he wasn't _in love_ with her.

He knew it was selfish to string her along like this, but he also knew he had done her and Adrian a favor. Anyone could see they weren't meant to be. Besides, the woman Adrian was now with, an incredibly smart Spanish woman named Vina, completed him in more ways than anyone could have imagined possible for him.

Another wave of cold swept through him as his thoughts of completion, and the people allowing that completion, overtook his mind. He remembered the day he had to tell his family that one of their own wouldn't be returning with him.

[Flashback]

_He walked down the same sidewalk he had played on with his sisters and best friend many years before with one of those sisters clinging to him like a life-preserver, her tears enough to fill an ocean. His tears had run out hours ago. He felt nothing._

_His sisters, Karolina and Sonya, were home as Karolina had graduated and Sonya had dropped out a few months before, realizing that training wasn't meant for her. He knew inside his mother was probably cooking dinner and Yeva was...well, being Yeva._

_Those plans were obviously disrupted when Olena made her appearance at the front door, her eyes concerned with the health of her children after hearing the sobs of one of her greatest treasures. They walked the rest of the way to the door, Dimitri sitting down with Viktoria on the couch._

_Olena took her youngest daughter into her arms, "What happened, Dimka? Why are you home? Where's Savina?"_

_Dimitri took a few moments to clear his throat and his thoughts, and in those moments, his grandmother, older, and younger sisters joined them, "The school...it was attacked by Strigoi...six people were killed and three."_

_His words caught in his throat, causing him to choke. His eyes blurred as he continued, "Three were taken away. They couldn't be found. One was...Savina."_

_Olena gasped and clutched Viktoria even tighter into her arms. Yeva plopped down into a chair near the doorway. Karolina dropped the glass bowl she had been holding, her hands now at her mouth attempting to hold her cries inside. Sonya had no such reservations._

_Sonya collapsed onto her knees on the floor, sobbing for all she was worth. If Dimitri and Savina had been inseparable, Sonya had come as a close second with Savi. The family cried together that night, not bothering with dinner the rest of the night. The next morning, they were finally calm enough to call the community together and mourn the loss of the girl who had become a daughter, sister, best friend, and, though he never admitted it to them, potential lover._

_Dimitri himself became even more reserved. When he finally went back to school, it was with a new determination to make sure he was the best. He wouldn't ever let anyone die with him near again. Savina was dead because he was weak, and he would never be weak again._

[end flashback]

Dimitri had been one of the best new guardians the world had known, still was one of the best, but no one save from his close family and the people who had been there knew the real purpose behind his dedication. He had promised himself he would rid the world of the very monsters that had taken his Savi away. Before long, he had become one himself.

At least becoming one had allowed for a bit of research. Even though he hadn't felt anything for her anymore, he had still felt a need to make sure she was dead. He had asked around Russia and all questions came back with negative responses. No one knew of a strigoi named Savina Belikova. She was gone.

It was a closure he wasn't sure he had ever fully wanted. It allowed for far too many other factors to get involved in his life, like Rose.

When he was with Rose, since the moment he had first seen her, he couldn't help but compare her. Even laying in bed with her, their naked bodies pressed together, he couldn't stop himself.

Savina's hair was black as a raven's wing, straight as a veil, and had hung to her lower back. Rose's hair was so brown it was nearly black, wavy, and she never let it grow farther than mid-back, if that.

While they were both tough as sandpaper and had a wild sense of adventure, Rose had more of a rebellious, childish quality where Savina had been a free spirit wanting to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

No matter what part of Rose Dimitri brought to the foreground of his memory, Savina's comparison always knocked it out-of-the-way. No matter how many times he tried to forget she existed and just live, he couldn't.

Dimitri had never believed in soul mates and never would, but he _did_ believe there were people in this world who could understand and love you better than the others, and for that reason, they were meant to be the people you loved. Savina had been his, and he had lost her.

Rose stirred against him and her breathing changed to that of a person who had just awoken. She looked up at him with a smile he automatically returned, despite his protesting feelings, "Hey comrade."

"Hey Roza."

"When's our flight?"

Dimitri looked over at the clock, "In six hours."

Rose stretched and stood up to go and take a shower. Dimitri was going back home for a visit and Rose was coming with. With the amount of security Lissa and Christian had at their beck and call, the two of them had been granted a temporary vacation.

Given that it was this time of the year with the fact that Sonya, Yeva, and he was pretty sure Viktoria had figured out that he didn't really love her, this was going to be interesting.

**Please review! You have no idea what they mean to me!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I was asked by a reviewer if I am a Rose and Dimitri fan. I _am_ a Rose and Dimitri fan with the books, but in fanfiction, I love shipping people other than the normal couple. I can tell you now, Rose and Dimka will not be getting together in my story, if you haven't figured that out already. Who will they be with? Hmm...**

**By the way, I'm attempting to update as much as possible, so there may be multiple updates in one day. If that's not what you like, I apologize.**

Dimitri knocked on the front door twice. Rose shifted nervously beside him and he nearly laughed. He hadn't seen his family since before he met Rose, and he knew what Rose had done for him, but he had called them a couple weeks ago telling them what had happened. He had been a monster of the night who would have slaughtered his family without a second thought, and she was the one who was nervous.

Olena answered the door and her eyes filled with tears at the sight of her son after such a long time, "Dimka."

She hugged them both and let them come inside, a welcomed sanctuary to the bitterly cold winter wind. Dimitri heard laughter from the kitchen that sounded like Viktoria and Yeva. Olena smiled at them both, "I trust you both got here with minimal trouble?"

"Of course, mother," Dimitri sighed. Different time, same mother.

"You both are probably starved. We were just about to pull some cookies out of the oven. Help yourself."

And so they indulged themselves on sugary goodness while sharing small talk, completely avoiding the subject of Dimitri's previous affiliation. Paul walked inside holding Zoya's hand with one of his and a small truck in the other. That's when Dimitri remembered something.

"Mother, where are Karolina and Sonya?"

He saw a flicker of fear pass through his mothers eyes, but it passed without a trace a moment later, "They're upstairs."

Now his suspicions were up and he could tell Rose's were as well when she asked, "If they're just hanging out upstairs, why aren't Paul and Zoya with them? Surely what they're doing could involve the children?"

After a moment of silence that didn't go unnoticed, Viktoria said, "I just wanted to spend some time with my niece and nephew."

Everyone knew she was lying.

Listening closely, Dimitri could hear footsteps coming downstairs slowly, so as not to be heard, but then he realize what must have made him wary, "Mother...who else is here?"

The fear in here eyes was back and this time it didn't fade, "Now, Dimka, I know how protective you can get, but-"

Ignoring her protests, he jumped up abruptly and ran into the other room. When he did, he was sure his heart had stopped as suddenly as his legs.

Karolina and Sonya were both standing in complete shock of having been caught, but it wasn't them who had his attention so fully. Standing before him after eight, nearly nine, long years of absence was Savina Belikova.

Slowly coming out of his shock, he asked in a small voice, "Savi?"

She began to run toward the door, but Dimitri grabbed her wrist. He expected her to stop and talk to him. He didn't expect her to give him a nice hard punch in the jaw before running again. Rose was by his side in a moment, but he shoved her away from him and ran out the door after her.

He saw her run down the street and knew exactly where she was headed, and so he followed.

* * *

><p>Rose stood, incredibly pissed that he would be so rough with her, and asked, "Who the hell is 'Savi'?"<p>

Sonya glared at her, "Her name is Savina Belikova. Our family adopted her when she was eight."

"If she's your...sister, then why was he so surprised to see her?"

Karolina covered Sonya's cruel mouth with her hand and said, "We'll tell you, but you have to promise us that you won't hate Dimitri for it."

Rose rolled her eyes, "How could anyone hate Dimitri?"

She was about to find out.

* * *

><p>Dimitri ran along the icy road, much like he had eight years before, except this time he was chasing her. She ran inside a building that had been empty since as long as he can remember.<p>

He pushed the door open so hard it banged against the wall and closed behind him. He saw Savina leaning against the wall, holding her hand up at him, "Stay where you are."

His heart jumped into her throat, "Is it...is it really you?"

Savina smiled sadly, "Yeah. It's me."

"How? Why didn't you come forward before?"

A tear escaped down her cheek and she looked away, "Are you sure you want to know?"

He walked toward her slowly and tucked a finger under her chin, pulling her face up to his, "Start at the beginning."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the continued reviews. I'm glad no one hates Savina yet, which is rare with OC's. I appreciate y'all giving a figment of my imagination a chance. ****I also apologize for promising frequent updates and not updating for so long. I've been having personal problems and haven't been able to get to fanfiction as often as I would like. Thank you for understanding if you do.**

**WARNING : this chapter has a bit of swearing. If you don't like, don't read and don't flame. That simple.**

Savina looked away from him, turning herself around, "That day eight years ago, I wasn't killed nor was I turned. I was taken."

"Taken?"

"Yes," she faced him again, tears shining in her black eyes. "They took me so I could be their toy. They did it to many young dhampirs. Some they eventually turned when they thought we could be an asset to their ranks. Others they killed. More, like me, they just played with."

Dimitri's blood ran cold. He knew just what kind of toy she was talking about. He had done it to Rose when he had turned, "You were their-"

"Whore," the tears slipped from the eyelids that held them. "I was their damn whore."

"But you're here. If they knew they were going to lose you, they would have killed you. I would know," Dimitri said sharply.

Savina shook her head, "I have the scars on my neck to prove I was their bitch. They would drink my blood, rape me, and leave me to heal for the next time. It was the middle of a Siberian winter when they decided they didn't want me anymore. I was the favorite of a strigoi named Tomas. He decided to give me a slight chance, but still being a strigoi he was a sick person, so he sent me out into the wild.

"I eventually found my way back to Baia after walking for miles and miles. I was nearly dead when I showed up in front of Karolina. They nursed me back to health for a second time after they realized I wasn't dead. Just when I was healthy again and I was going to come and find you, but Rose showed up at the house. I stayed hidden, which wasn't hard to do in the state she was in, and then she told us your fate.

"I cried for days. I thought you were dead. Then I was told you were alive again and Rose had saved you. When I found that out, I knew you couldn't know that I was alive. You could never find me," Savina whispered.

Dimitri pulled her into his arms, holding her so tight he was surprised she could breathe. A tear ran down his face and into her hair, "You should have told me."

"I know."

They stood like that for quite a while until she back away and put her palm to his cheek, "You have to go back to her, Dimka. I know how you feel, but you have to. I'm supposed to be dead to you."

"How can you know how I feel about you?"

She smiled sadly, "Because I feel the same."

And with that, she walked through the door and out of his life for a second time.

**I know it's short, but the next one will be longer. It's just a filler chapter. In case you were wondering, the picture of the girl on the cover of this story is Savina. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm sorry this update took so long to be put up. I've been busy. Funny how that always seems to work out, huh? Anyway, enjoy!**

He knew there was no point in following after her. If there was one game Savina always won as a child, it was hide and seek. Dimitri just stood where he was for a moment, staring at a crack in the brick wall behind where Savina's body had stood in front of his. He felt the same emptiness he had felt every time he had thought of her in the years before.

He slowly walked back to his childhood house, knowing full well that Savina wouldn't have gone back there. He couldn't believe she'd done this to him. He'd lost her a second time.

He was in a daze when he opened the screen door, oblivious to the glare he was receiving from his girlfriend, and the fact that there was a new face in the room. It took Olena shouting Dimitri's name three times to bring him out of his self-induced trance, "What?"

She rolled her eyes and gestured to the young man in their presence, "Dimitri, this is Roman Rasputin."

The name sounded familiar and after a moment he knew why. His eyes widened and the young man smiled, "So you remember?"

Oh, he remembered. The young man's hair was halfway down his shoulders and a reddish brown color, the same from childhood. He was muscular, with a bulkier build than himself, but Roman was shorter. He had friendly blue eyes, but they always seemed to be afraid of the shadows, "Is your story the same as Savina's?"

He nodded, "I've already explained it to Rose-"

"Since you didn't feel like including me in anything," she nearly screeched, standing in front of him. "What is up with that? I mean, I get that you two were friends, but-"

Dimitri held up a hand, "You don't know anything, Rose."

She took a step back, looking almost as if she had been slapped. Roman stepped forward and a hand on her shoulder, glaring at Dimitri, "I understand what you must be feeling right now, Dimitri, but don't take it out on her. It's your fault for leading her on like this."

Rose looked like a lost rabbit, glancing from face to face, "Leading me on like what?"

Dimitri sighed, leaning against the counter, "Rose, maybe we should talk in private."

"No! Talk to me here. What is going on?" she looked as desperate as she sounded.

"I don't love you, Rose...never did, really. I just wanted the pain to stop, and you reminded me of her, so I thought...well, I didn't think it would get as far as it did. I thought after a couple of months, you would have moved on," he said clumsily, attempting to explain how he'd wronged her.

Her brown eyes filled with tears, "How could...why would...I should...huh?"

Roman took her elbow and gently led her crying form out onto the porch. Viktoria glanced back and forth between her broken brother and shattering friend. She didn't know what to do or what to think.

They'd all known why Dimitri had gone for her the moment she'd shown up on their doorstep. It was an unwelcomed realization, with them loving the real Savina much more. Savina had been angry with both herself and Dimitri over the choices that had been made, and had wanted them to do something for Rose. They tried to get her to move on, but it hadn't worked.

Savina, watching from the window of the back door, felt terrible. She'd never wanted her disappearance to hurt anyone, and now it was hurting someone who hadn't been directly involved in the crisis. She hated Dimitri for pulling some innocent, coincidental woman into the mix just for his relief and pleasure, but she also loved him for caring about her so much. It was a vicious cycle.

One thing she knew was she couldn't stay away. Too much had happened for her to run out on them now. Even Rose needed her presence to help them all cope. Roman was Savina's friend, after being in the same position for so long, and she knew him well enough to sense that he was attracted to Rose. Savina knew that he wouldn't take the plunge and go for her if he thought there was a chance she was still into Dimka.

She opened the back door and said in her low voice, "Mitya."

He jumped up and gazed at her, shock evident, "Sav?"

"I need to speak with you."

She then turned and ran to a barn, the very same barn her sisters, mother, and grandmother had been trapped in the day she had been raped. When she ran in, she shut the door, immersing herself in darkness. Climbing her way up to the rafters, she sat there and waited.

Sure enough, he opened the door and came inside. Her eyes had already adjusted to the light difference, but his hadn't. She spoke before his directions worked, "How could you do this to someone you trusted?"

He froze, "You have no idea how much pain I was in. I loved you, Savina. Hell, I still love you. You disappeared, probably dead, and I would never know it. I wanted relief. Rose acts so much like you in some ways, but it's still a painful reminder that it's not you everytime she does anything."

"Like breathe? Exist? Who died and made you God?"

His shoulders slumped, "I know what I did was wrong, and I'll pay for it someday. I just hope I didn't hurt her too bad after everything she's been through."

Savina laughed, a beautiful sound making him shiver, "After the way Roman was looking at her, I'd assumed she'll move on relatively soon. It might be painful, extremely so. She was really in love with you."

She saw his eyes narrow into a glower, "Do you think I don't know that?"

"Obviously not, seeing as how you don't care."

"I do care!"

"Then talk to her like she's a real person. Apologize to her. Offer her anything, your soul even. Make amends. You'll regret it even more if you don't."

"Where do we stand?"

"We'll talk more after you talk to her. I like Rose, and I don't even really know her yet."

He laughed, a genuine laugh for the first time in a long time, "Same old Savina."

"Not even close."

And in that moment, they both knew that nothing had changed between them. They were still in love.

**More to come soon! I promise! I have another free period today, so maybe I'll get it all out then?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the wait. After I posted that chapter, I went home, ate dinner, and promptly caught the stomach flu. It had been coming on for a while, but I thought I could push it off until Spring Break started. Then the internet at my house went out. Damn. It didn't happen the way I'd planned. So here's the next chapter, albeit a little late.**

"Rose? Can I talk to you?"

She picked up her head from Roman's chest long enough to glare at him through tear filled eyes, "No."

He sighed. He'd expected as much, "I wanted to apologize."

"I don't care."

"I am a jerk."

"Yes, you are."

"I deserve for lightening to strike me down and set me aflame with the fires of hell."

"Yes, you do."

"You must hate me."

"No."

Dimitri's brown eyes widened, "You...don't?"

She still glared, but it was a touch softer, though Roman's was redhot, "I'm still furious and hurt, don't get me wrong, but Roman has explained to me as best as he could why you did what you did. I get it, but that doesn't truly excuse why you led me on. You're a jerk for leading me on, but I can also see, and have seen over the last few years, that you love your family more than anyone else and how passionate and caring you really are."

Dimitri's tall form leaned against the wall, "Why are you being nice to me?"

"I did the same thing to someone else I cared about, if you will care to remember," Rose said, all venom leaving her voice. "I suppose I deserve what you did to me after what I did to Adrian. After all, you did what you did out of true love. I did what I did out of lust and wishes."

He shook his head, "Completely different circumstances, Roza."

She laughed, "You just keep telling yourself that, comrade, and maybe you'll get sick of being guilty."

Roman snorted.

* * *

><p>Savina watched from the window as Dimitri, Rose, and Roman fought, talked, and eventually joked with each other. A calm smile turned her azalea colored lips. Sonya came over to her and put her arm around her sister's shoulders, "I don't like her."<p>

Savina laughed, "Of course not. You hardly like anyone."

Sonya looked back at her younger sister sleeping on the sofa, then at her older sister talking in the kitchen with her mother and grandmother. Finally, she glanced at the floor where her niece and nephew were playing, wishing she hadn't lost her own baby, "I like our family."

"Families can include even those who aren't blood related. I would know," Savina shot her a look.

Sonya smiled sheepishly, "I don't like her?"

"You're asking me now?" Savina laughed again.

Dimitri walked in with Rose and Roman, who were noticeably holding hands. Dimitri came over and took Savina's hands in his, "Can we talk? Please?"

She looked over at Sonya, who was nodding, "Alright."

They walked out the back door and to the barn in the moonlight. Savina sat on a small wooden crate, "What do you want?"

He ran a hand through his long, brown hair, "Damn it, Savi. You know what I want."

"Oh, I know. My only question is, are you ready for it? Are you truly ready for a relationship?"

His brown eyes met her black ones, "I know I messed up. I get it and I will regret it for the rest of my days, but I thought if anyone could forgive me, it would be you. What happened to my Savi?"

"She died."

"No," Dimitri said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. He gripped her face in between his large hands and held her there. "No, I believe she's still in there. I see her, in your eyes. It's small, but it's also clear. She's fighting."

Tears filled her eyes, "No. Savi is gone. Savi is no more. She never will be."

"Why?"

"Because?"

"Why?"

She screamed in rage and shoved his chest, "Because I'm tired of emotions. I'm tired of not being able to control myself because of circumstance."

"That's life."

"I hate it."

"So do I."

She hugged him and buried her face in the chest she'd missed, finally allowing herself to break free. She sobbed into her best friend as he held her. He sat down on the crate she'd been on before, still holding her. Eventually, her cries subsided.

Dimitri leaned down and captured her lips with his before she could protest. Savina pushed all of her automatic protests away and let herself fall completely for the man she knew he was. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and held on. He stretched his arms around her slim frame and held her as tightly as still comfortably possible.

The doors opened and they heard a small gasp. They pushed against each other and Savina fell onto the floor. Viktoria was standing in the doorway, a small smile on her face with her hand over her mouth.

Dimitri tightened his ponytail, "What can I do for you, Viktoria?"

"Mother wanted me to tell you that she prepared a very late dinner for us all," she said, nearly giggling.

Dimitri helped Savina to her feet, "We'll be in later."

Viktoria nodded, closed the door, and laughed her way to the house. Dimitri and Savina shared a look and began to laugh themselves. Before long, Savina stretched her neck out so she could attempt to kiss Dimitri. He took mercy on her, lowered his head, and kissed her again.

"What now?"

"Now, we live."

**Next chapter : Epilogue**


	10. Epilogue

**Eight years later...**

"Get down from the table, Sacha," Savina chastised her four-year-old son.

The little boy groaned, "But Mom..."

"No buts! What would your grandmother say?"

The little boy jumped down and ran to play with his cousins. Karolina walked over with a laugh, "I told you using Anthony as a surrogate father for you and Dimitri was going to end up causing you problems."

Savina glared, "Well, we can't all have your lovely beau."

Karolina laughed again, "Lovely is a matter of opinion, Savi. Anyway, you were right. the Guardians are almost here anyway. I just got a call from them. If Dimitri were to see Sacha on the table..."

They both mock shuddered. When Sonya looked up from where she was holding Savina's daughter and playing with her own to ask what they were doing, they were quick to giggle and tell her nothing. When they heard the car doors shut outside, the children began to go crazy.

Karolina and Sonya followed the kids outside while Savina walked into the kitchen to help her mother with the cooking. She couldn't help but reflect on everything that had happened after that night eight years before.

She and Dimitri had quickly, but tentatively, begun a relationship almost right away. They quickly realized just how close they were despite the lost years and married within the year. Roman and Rose had taken a while to admit just where they stood with each other, but a year and a half after Savina and Dimitri's wedding, Roman and Rose's took place.

Rose also took a large leap and decided to move to Russia. She knew Roman didn't want to leave and after everything that had happened in the United States, she could live with a few visits now and again. Her only reservation about leaving had been Lissa, but Lissa assured Rose that she was in good hands.

Deciding upon having children had been a hard choice for Savina and Dimitri to make, knowing whatever child they had would only be one half of theirs. After nearly three years of marriage, they decided that Savina would "make a baby" with a Moroi friend of hers, Anthony. Four years later, they once again decided Dimitri would do the same with Anthony's wife, Maria. That provided them with a lovely daughter, Marina.

Savina was raising the children with Dimitri's help whenever he came home from guarding, and Anthony and Maria provided a bit of financial support (coming from a rich background) and visited their bastard children as often as their children with each other. Roman and Rose had decided against the whole having kids aspect and left that to the Belikovs.

Dimitri walked in the house and took his wife in his arms, "I see Sacha is becoming more and more like his father."

"Don't say that!" Savina groaned. "You're not left with him."

Dimitri laughed, "Maybe Marina will turn out different."

"I certainly hope so."

Olena came forward and looked at her family lovingly, "Yeva would have been so happy to see you two and your family."

Their thoughts turned sad as they remembered Yeva, who had died five years ago from a rogue Strigoi attack. She had spilled her blood and distracted the Strigoi (and been attacked) to save her other grandchildren. She had been dubbed a hero, cremated, and had her ashes scattered in the mountains.

Rose came in, sporting a nice black eye. Savina gaped and then smirked, "Which one?"

Rose jabbed an angry finger at her husband, "Bastard."

"Aren't we all?" Roman chuckled.

She swatted at him, "Smartass."

Looking around at the various small children playing on the carpet and tugging at the adults legs, the family reunited, Savina couldn't help but wonder what was in store for them in the future. However, when she remembered everything they had already overcome, she knew they would be just fine.

**Dun, dun, dun. We're all DONE! This story is finished, finally! I hope you enjoyed Savina Belikova, and please leave a parting review before you depart to enjoy more Vampire Academy!**


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